


The Road Between Souls

by TheWitchYouCouldntBurn



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ace Reader, Cyan soul reader, F/M, Frisk (Undertale) Uses Sign Language, Mage Reader, Nonbinary Frisk (Undertale), Nonverbal Frisk, Reader knows a little bit of asl, Reader's powers don't show up until later because it's a plot point, Slow Burn, Veteran Grillby (Undertale), but mostly just the alphabet, fuku fire is a boba barista, i don’t know why that’s relevant, more tags as the story progresses, poor baby, reader has a really shitty life, so its basically useless in a real conversation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-07-15 10:02:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16060817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWitchYouCouldntBurn/pseuds/TheWitchYouCouldntBurn
Summary: When you’re dirt poor and jobless, you’ll take whatever opportunities come your way. And hey, if that means you end up working for a monster made of fire, who are you to complain?You really just wanted to pay your heating bill.





	1. In Which You Go To A Boba Cafe and Don't Get Boba

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to preface this with the fact that, as a person living in their parents house still, I don’t know much about paying bills or what it’s like to live in the situations I’ve put my Reader in. If I get anything too horribly wrong, please feel free to let me know what needs fixing!

You slam your head on the kitchen table. Ugh. Could the universe let you die? Please?

You wait, but no lightning bolt strikes, and no natural disaster sweeps you into its uncaring arms. Looks like mother nature wants you alive. Good on her, then. Fuck.

You were recently unemployed. Again. Yet another food place was tired of having your dumbass on staff and, while you could hardly blame them for “releasing you from their services”, this was the fifth time n as many months and you had a stack of rent notices, electrical bills, warnings, notices, and warnings for the notices stacking up on your counter. You’re kind of sick at looking at them.

Your only saving grace is the money your grandparents send you every month. The checks in the mail gave you just enough to scrape by on rent and to fill your shitty, almost broken fridge with junk food and soda. You’re grateful. It still sucks to sit in your house wrapped in blankets because the electricity had been cut off. It. Sucked. Ass.

Your battery operated alarm clock (because, again, no electricity) beeps, announcing that it’s time to go outside and walk around the shopping center, hoping there’s a business inside who hasn’t caught wind of your reputation. There are lots of shops in the area - they couldn’t all have heard of you… right?

Right. Okay, time to get up. You unbury yourself, removing six separate blankets from your too-skinny body one at a time until, with the last, you’re hit by the shocking cold of the outside air. You yelp, even though it happened same time nearly every day for the past week. 

“C’mon, c’mon,” you say to yourself, “get dressed fast. More movement, less cold.” You put on mostly clean black pants, a purple sweater, and black combat boots with soles that were being held to the shoe with regularly reapplied super glue. They were so old, and you know you should get rid of them, but they’re so comfy and also you don’t want to spend money on something like shoes when you haven't yet gotten your next check from your grandparents. 

You look in the mirror, turning side to side and, not spotting any completely terrible stains in any mortifying places, decide this outfit will have to do. You grab a soda, your empty water bottle, and your laptop bag that doubled as a complete purse. Out the door you go.

Oddly the brisk autumn air feels better than your top floor apartment. Maybe because it’s outside. Not so stifling. That’s probably it. The leaves crunching beneath your feet as you dodge both people and monsters alike, with the white vapor of your breath in front of your face, you feel free from the burden of your shitty, stagnant life. It feels good.

When you get to the shopping center on Maple, the first place you make it to is the boba café, and you went straight inside. Not to apply though. You appreciate your place there far too much to tarnish it with your complete incompetence. You but the cheapest thing on the menu, an egg biscuit, from a pretty new monster barista and sit in the back near the outlet, immediately plugging in your computer and getting out your notebook. It’s filled with all the stores and restaurants within ten miles of your place. Twelve of them are already crossed out - the ones that fired you - but you don’t let the sight deflate your mood. You’re going to be happy dammit, even though your subconscious seems utterly determined to sabotage you at every turn. You’d figure it out. You had to.

The WIFI at the little shop is fast, and your two egg biscuits are soft and warm, with a runny yolk. It’s easy to get caught up in the world of job applications, and soon you completely lose track of time to your quest. It isn’t until you feel a tap on your shoulder that you realize there’s a world outside your computer. 

You look up - it’s the barista from before, a lovely green fire elemental. She’s got a shirt reminiscent of a japanese school uniform on underneath her standard black apron, and you wonder if that’s her personal style or if she’s in school. She looks a bit unsure of what to say, looking back at the guy behind the counter who waves at her encouragingly.

“Hi, sorry to bother you, but Josh says you need to leave. Unless you want to buy something else but otherwise you’ve used up your two hours.”

You blink, surprised. Had it really already been two hours? You looked at the time on your screen - wow, you’d actually been there longer than two hours - closer to four. No doubt it was thanks to knowing Josh, the manager in question, who seemed to like you well enough.

You smile at the monster girl. “Thank you, but I’m alright. I’ll get out of here. I needed to get moving anyway.” To Josh you say, “Thanks for letting me hang, dude!”

He sent you a thumbs up. Quite the chatterbox he is.

After packing up your stuff as quickly as possible and filling your water in the bathroom sink, you head out the front door with a pleasant jingle from the doorbell. You look at the list in your notebook. You’d applied to seven restaurants, three retail stores, Lowe’s, Safeway, Barnes and Noble, and a place you’d never visited but seen in passing called Grillby’s. Pretty damn good for three and a half hours. Now you just needed to get your groceries before heading home with arms that loved nothing more than to complain about the strain of everything on your body. Considering that you usually needed to get about ten bags home every trip, you suppose the screaming muscles were justified in their cries.

Oh well - it was better to get it over with now, right?

You walk for a while, taking slower steps this time than you had on the way to the cafe. You breathe in the autumn air with a calm deliberation, letting it cool your lungs til right on the edge of uncomfortable. It feels good, this leisurely stroll, even if there’s a destination at the end of it. It feels good to slow down and take things in.


	2. In Which Cookies Don't Fix Your Life, But They Sure Make Everything Feel A Little Bit Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You treat yourself to popcorn and Jumanji after your day. You don’t expect any company, but that’s always when somebody shows up, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos I’ve gotten! I really didn’t expect anyone to read my story so soon, but I’m so glad you guys liked it! I’d be so grateful if ya’ll could leave some feedback, so I can make this fic even better!

What else do you need to get? You look at the list and scan it quickly, hoping you’ll find it. Everything is crossed off, but there’s something nagging at you, and you can’t figure out what it is. You shrug. Whatever it was couldn’t be that important if it wasn’t written down. You wrote everything down.

Maybe you could get popcorn. You have a few more dollars, enough to buy one of the twelve-packs. Yes, you decide. You’re gonna enjoy yourself for a couple weeks. Blanket cocoons and movie nights with pirated films online.

The line is short today, and you’re grateful as you walked up right behind a woman who is already finishing paying for her things. You don’t pay any attention to her or the conversation with the cashier as you pile your loads of ramen and other foods onto the conveyor belt, thinking on which things you’ll give up if you don’t have enough money for it all. It’ll probably have to be the chocolate syrup and the five little sushi rolls. It’s enough to splurge on the popcorn, you don’t really need something as fancy as seafood even if it was store bought-

“hey, you there lady?”

You shake your head at the voice and return to the rest of the world. You look where the cashier is supposed to be and find a monster.

A… skeleton?

A skeleton monster.

Wow, this is strange.

“Um yeah! I’m here. All good. Just got lost in thought.”

“i’ll say,” he replies. “that’s a lotta ramen.”

You shrug. “Cheapest food on earth, right? And the lime shrimp one is actually really good.”

“never tried any of them. i’ll take your word for it.”

The rest of the transaction passes in relative silence, which you neither like nor dislike, and you leave a bit quicker than you think might have been necessary. You hope he doesn’t think you meant anything by it, but you’re already crossing the parking lot and there’s really no reason to return and apologize over something so trivial.

\----

Your apartment sucks, sure, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t home. You’ve filled it with decently good looking things, a couch and bookshelf you’d found at a flea market, and a ton of things you’d bought at second hand stores. You liked your things. You enjoyed being around the things you’d earned for yourself, the meager collection of books, and the three skillets and pot, and your small collection of Disney movies. If you focus on those things, it’s easy to forget what kind of place you keep them in.

When you walk in the kitchen you start singing the song while you put away your food.

Often, I am upset

That I cannot fall in love

But I guess

This avoids the stress of falling out of it

You stick the soda in the fridge without opening the box, and put the popcorn in the pantry with the cereals.

Are you tired of me yet?

I’m a little sick right now but I swear

When I’m ready I will fly us out of here

Chips go on top of the fridge. You pass the bills and shove them quickly into the blue bin under the kitchen counter.

I’ll cut my hair

To make you stare 

I’ll hide my chest and I’ll

Figure out a way to get us out of here

Milk, butter, things you probably won’t use for anything but toast and drink, but you liked to think someday you’ll have enough things to make something tasty. You smile at the thought. Maybe you could try french toast tomorrow. That might turn out pretty good.

Turn off that porcelain face

I can’t really think right now and this place

Has too many colors, enough

To drive all of us insane

You grab one of the popcorn bags out of the box into the microwave to cook, and take your computer out of the bag to move to the couch for a movie, expertly dodging the Home Depot bucket sitting quietly beneath the leaky ceiling. It takes a few minutes to find the right one (Jumanji), and you then return to the kitchen to grab the buttery treat and return to the couch.

In a few moments with a couple deft movements, you’re once again snuggled deep in the recesses of your blanket shield, your hands and face the only parts of your body made to feel the air so you can eat your popcorn and see the movie. Your nose is cold, but it’s a small price to pay. You snuggle down and press play.

-

You don’t know when you fell asleep, but when you wake up, the credits are rolling across your computer screen and there’s a light tapping on the front door. You groan. Not people. You don’t want people here. Was it Katie? You hope not. Last time she’d been to your apartment it’d been in good shape. You’d had heating and the lights were always on. You’d told her you could handle “this whole adult thing”. You’d been wrong, and you did not want her to know that, especially after her near constant offers for the longest time to help you out.

The tapping on the door persists, and your still sleep fogged brain vaguely realizes that she didn’t knock like that. Katie pounded the door like it had done her a terrible misdeed, even if she was in a perfectly good mood, so it couldn’t be her.

Your curiosity is piqued just enough for you to bother unburying yourself.

“I’m coming…!” You grumble. They’re still knocking, and you shuffle towards the door, making a respectable attempt to flatten down your hair that’s raised on end, charged with static. It works, mostly. You feel like it would be fine if you opened the door. 

You open the door. 

It takes you a minute to process what you’re seeing.

Not that it’s strange or anything, you’re just still in the after-nap fog where reality seems to bend and shift a little here and there, and it takes you longer than you’d like to admit to realize that there’s a small human child and a monster child standing outside your door. They both are wearing cute green vests, covered in colorful patches that probably mean a lot more to them than they do to you, over bright striped sweaters which you knew was how monsters told the kids apart from the adults. Humans had started adopting the tradition as well. Behind the two was a wagon, and in the wagon was about fifteen different colored boxes of cookies. The wagon must have been terrible to drag up five flights of stairs, especially since the monster child doesn’t seem to have any arms - oooh my god they’re girl scouts.

You grin at them. “Hey kiddos, what can I do ya for?” The funny phrasing you’d picked up from your grandparents pays off with twin giggles.

The human kid doen’t speak, but starts waving their hands. No. wait. Not waving, ASL. Ah shit, you’re so rusty, you’d been interested in learning for maybe five minutes in high school.. But you know enough to understand a little bit of what they’re saying. 

HI - MY NAME IS F-R-I-S-K - MY FRIEND M-O-N-S-T-E-R-K-I-D

That’s the extent of what you understand, but thankfully ‘Monster Kid’ (who’s name seems hilariously on-the-nose to you) is more than happy to translate.

“Hi! I’m Frisk, and this is my friend Monster Kid! We’re selling cookies and we were wondering if you wanted to buy anything. We have thin mints!”

Ooooooohhh thin mints. You can already taste them. The sweet mix of chocolate and mint, the thing that truly made this country great. You could stuff yourself for winter like a proud American squirrel and be perfectly happy with yourself for it, not a single drop of guilt in your Home Depot bucket o’ regrets.

But you couldn’t.

You sag even lower than your tired slouch. 

“Sorry kiddos,” you sigh. “Don’t have any money to spare.” the kids droop, disappointed, and the guilt you feel at taking away their smiles is heavy, and you try to quickly think of something you can do about it. “You know what though, the second I have the cash I’ll come find you two, and get all the thin mints in that wagon. How’s that sound?”

They cheer up immediately, letting out little yessssses and swearing to the sun and stars that they’d save you lots of cookies. They’d still be selling cookies in a month, could you buy some then?

“Of course! I’ll save up for it!” You’ll have to take some things off next month’s shopping list, walk a little further to the library instead of the boba shop, but you’d manage. It’d be fine, just to see these kiddos smile. You ruffle Frisk’s hair and rub MK’s head in a way that’s supposed to be about the same type of thing. It doesn’t have the same effect in your head, but they seem pleased by it.

There’s a weird shift in the air, like something is being shoved into a space nearby, and you hear a voice.

“hey kiddos, what’s holdin’ ya? ‘m gettin’ bonely waitin’ for ya.” you look up, surprised to see the same skeleton monster (you were pretty sure they were the same monster, he had a distinct… something about him) who’d bagged your groceries earlier today. Or yesterday? No, it’d been today. Jumanji wasn’t that long of a movie, you’d only been asleep for maybe an hour and a half. The skeleton sees you about the same time you spot him, and seems vaguely surprised, in an ‘oh this is a weird but unimportant coincidence’ sort of way. “hey pal.”

“Um. Hey?” You aren’t sure what to say. You literally said two sentences to him at the store today. “Little chilly for gym shorts, huh?” He seems to be literally big boned, judging by the thickness of his fibula and tibia. He’s wearing pink bunny slippers instead of shoes.

The skeleton shrugs. “eh, don’t feel it, really. the cold just goes right through me.”

You snicker. “Good one. Was just telling the kids to save some thin mints for me and I’ll buy them next month.” if you have the money, if you have the time, if you aren’t on the streets, if if if if if-

“i’ll make sure they get it to ya pal.” he turns to the kids, and Frisk signs enthusiastically in his direction. He nods. You think you see the word nice somewhere in their flying fingers, but you don’t trust your memory from one semester of high school ASL. “y’ sure buddy? gonna come out of - okay, okay, geez. you ready to go? still got a whole neighborhood to sucker into getting sweets.” 

“Yeah!” MK cheers, and you feel like he’s saying it for both of them, cemented by the fact that Frisk punches the air excitedly. The three of them disappear around the corner, the skeleton taking the handle of the wagon. You notice, a bit confused, that they go in the opposite of the stairs, but you shrug. They don’t know the building, they’re bound to make a wrong turn or two. They’ll figure it out. 

Still debating whether or not you should call out to the group, you turn back into your apartment and do a double take. How on earth…?

Sitting innocently on your kitchen counter, as if they’ve been there for ages, are three boxes of thin mints. On the box in front is a sticky note, and you immediately tear it off to read the note. 

hey, sorry to break in. the kid wanted to give you a treat. said you looked sad. don’t worry, they said they wanted to pay for it. hope you get back on your feet. -sans

There’s something wet on your face, and you wipe your cheek to brush away the tears. God it’s so sweet, and so stupid, and also confusing how did the sk- Sans get in your house, but you don’t care, you can’t even find it in you to be freaked out. Why are these fucking cookies making you so goddamned happy?

You’ll have to find a way to thank him. Somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna point out that, yes, I ascribe to the nonbinary Frisk headcanon and also think MK is agender at /least/, I just really love girl scout cookies. So, yeah, they're "girl" scouts


	3. In Which You Meet a Fish Woman and Do Nothing to Embarrass Yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternately titled “The One Where I Drew Fanart of My Own Fanfiction”
> 
> Am I using COBC’s chapter naming conventions? Yes. It’s more fun that way

You save the cookies. Shoving the boxes into the highest corner of your tiny pantry makes you feel like a squirrel storing things for winter, but you think you’ve gotten into such a habit of save, save, save everything that it’s going to be hard to break out of if you ever can. But that’s not really your biggest worry right now. So you leave the Thin Mints where you stuck them for a rainy day, and try to find something else to do.

You decide on a Nora Roberts novel you found at a tiny little book store with dim lights and high shelves. The lady who ran it was nice, seemed kind of anxious though.

It’s not something you’d prefer to do - reading isn’t your absolute favorite activity, but you have to admit that it passes the time really well, and anything was better than spending another day scrolling through your email. Looking for job offers or accepted applications, managers asking you to come in for an interview. Refreshing your email again and again and again until you felt hollow and hopeless and numb. 

Besides! This one looks interesting. A world where the population of earth was killed off by an unstoppable virus, and everyone left over was magical or immune. It seems like a nice little escape, so you dive in.

You don’t notice the lack of blankets. You don’t notice you’re warm.

You stay on the couch for a while. It’s kind of your spot. You even sleep there, never really trusting the cheap mattress you’d bought a year or so ago. You keep glancing up at the kitchen cabinet. At the spot where you knew your cookies were, even though the door was closed. Your mouth waters.

No, ______, be good. You’re saving them. You can have them another day.

You distract yourself with the bag of popcorn you never finished, and it’s not warm, but there are a few burnt pieces and its really salty and buttery and the flavors make you want to melt. It’s been awhile since you ate for reasons besides simple sustenance. Felt nice. Tastes good. Maybe you can grab one cookie…?

No! Be good!

Your computer chimes, and you’re ashamed by how fast you leap up and open your email. Then you want to cry, because it’s just another damned Webtoon update.

“Fuck you!” You shout at the tech. You jump as your neighbor bangs on the wall by your head. Oh, right, Mr Reilly works from home. You don’t care. “Yeah, fuck you too, asshole!” You bang the wall right back, and sink back onto the couch.

Could Mother Nature kill you now?

You should go for a walk. The fresh air might do some good. You pull on a coat, and leave the apartment, and your computer and your keys-

Oh shit, your keys! You snatch them off the counter, and lock the door behind you.

For once it’s colder outside than in, and you regret not putting on a heavier jacket as your breath steams up in front of your face. Oh well. You don’t want to go back right now. It felt small.

You step purposefully, crunching leaves under every footfall and laughing at the sound. Autumn is fun. 

You dodge and weave through the light crowd, mostly people going in your direction - humans and a few monsters sprinkled in the mix, whom you try your best not to stare at. They look really awesome, the whole lot of them, but you don’t want to be rude. You’re certain they get enough of that without your help. It’s getting dark, the street lights coming on, but you don’t turn around. You want to explore.

You’ve been doing this a lot since you’d started your unemployment streak. You think by now you might’ve gotten to know almost all the city in a five mile radius of your apartment.

Maybe a little bit further, you think as you duck down an alley you’ve never turned to before. The brick walls are covered in the strangest graffiti you’d ever seen: it looked like moss, and running your hands along the words confirms it. They say beautiful things - Love protects us all; Monsters and humans should be together; create a better world. They’re such cheesy words, but you can admit that you’re a sucker for that kind of thing. You continue to run your hands over everything, the moss shedding frost as you do so. It was cold and soft. You like it. It’s happy.

It looks like the moss graffiti is also deliberately covering some far less pleasant words. Words of hate. You smile, a bit vindictively pleased, and exit the alley. 

Across the street is a park, where a Bunny monster is handing out cold treats. Isn’t it a little… y’know, cold for that? You’re skeptical. But the monster is smiling, and so is everyone who came to find themselves holding one of the sweets, and you figured you’d accept it. Even if you aren’t going to get any. It’s too cold for that.

You wave at the Bunny, and he waves back. Then his expression changes, and he shouts, “Oh, look out!”

You flinch backwards, but it’s too late, you can’t see anything except something very big and very solid and suddenly you find yourself on your ass on the sidewalk and the crunchy leaves.

“OW! Fuck!” You string together a few more curses as you try to get up from your embarrassing position. A blue hand - is that webbing between the fingers? - reaches down, and you take it. You’re yanked up off the ground so hard your feet actually leave the ground, and you yelp high pitched at the feeling of your arm trying to pull out of its socket. It doesn’t though, and you find yourself standing again.

“Shit, are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just - fuck, owwww - just hurts a little. Sorry for running into you.”

“It’s alright! You got more hurt than I did, huh? Sorry about that. I’m Undyne by the way.”

You look up. Then you have to look up a little higher, before you’re able to get a good look at the person (you think they might be a woman but fuck they’re tall!). You see a Fish monster. A bit less literally a fish than say, the Rabbits were rabbits, but her webbed hands and the long fin-like thing falling over the left side of her head that easily passed for a shaved head of hair, and scales and shockingly bright (maybe glowing) yellow eye, it was obvious what she’s supposed to be. And maybe, also-

“You’re hot,” You blurt out, and the monster lady cackles, and suddenly you think the cold isn’t the only reason your face is red. You bury your face in your warm gloved hands, and silently wish you could die. Please? Please? “I-I mean. I’m ____. I’m sorry!”

“It’s fine, everyone wants a piece of this!” She flexes, but you can’t see anything under her heavy coat. She’s still laughing, just a little bit, and even though she still seems to be in good spirits, you’re mortified. Why did you say that? You don’t say things like that! 

You groan. “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to offend-”

“Hey, it’s cool!” Undyne grin, all sharp teeth and you tried to hide the tiny flinch at the sight of them. “I mean, I’m sure my girlfriend wouldn’t be as pleased by someone flirting with me, but she wouldn’t say you’re wrong, Fuhuhu!” She winks. You think she winks, at least. It’s hard to tell when there’s only one eye to look at. The general vibe of it is a wink though. You’re 90% sure she winked at you.

“Well I’m glad I didn’t offend you, I’m sure you have places to be!” You’re sure you’re being rude now, but you don’t want you embarrass yourself more than you already have. You could go back through the alley. Back to the moss graffiti, then back to your apartment. You’ve been gone for a couple hours. It should feel normal size again. “I’ll just get out of your hair- er…”

“WHAT?!” Undyne shouts, and you do jump this time, not bothering to try hiding it. Did you make her mad?? You’ve heard some monsters had really strong magic, oh no oh no- “No way! We’re gonna be best friends! Come on, I know a great sushi place, do you like fish?”

“U-um, yes?” You LOVED fish. You had to put the sushi back today. “I-I don’t have any money though-!”

“No problem dude! You said your name’s _____?” You nod. “Is that short for something?”

She’s steering you somewhere down the street, the opposite direction from where she’d been heading before she ran into you. You’d never been down this way, you don’t think. This could be fun… Besides, you aren’t in any position to turn down free food and, generally speaking, you’ve found monsters to be far more trustworthy than humans. You should be safe. Probably.

“Um. Yeah. I-it’s _____. _____ _____. Just call me _____ if you don’t mind, though.”

She doesn’t mind. She grins that strong, sharp grin at you, and you felt warm again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had no plans for Reader to meet Undyne so soon, but Undyne wanted to meet Reader so I couldn’t really say no. Whoops
> 
> DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW TO DO ITALICS ON THIS FUCKING SITE cuz I had so many italics and they’re just
> 
> Gone. I will love you forever if you teach me italics


	4. In Which You Eat Sushi With A Fish and It Isn’t Ironic At All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first four chapters cover one day and I’m questioning my life choices

As you and Undyne chow down on ten massive, fancy rolls of sushi, and Undyne talks and you listen, you decide that as hot as she is, you’d enjoy her more as a friend than a girlfriend. She’s so loud - she projects her voice, powerful and intimidating and she laughs again and again at you falling on your ass thirty minutes earlier, which makes you blush. She’s just so much and you aren’t sure how well you’d be able to deal with that even if she was single.

She tells you about her girlfriend Alphys, who’s apparently some kind of genius - she was the Royal Scientist back in the underground, and since the monsters reached the surface a few years ago, the two of them had been set up in a gated community because of some university getting a hold of her and her talents early.

Silently, to yourself, you think that must be the only reason Undyne can afford all this damn sushi. Monster rights have been slow going, and the most recent president has just set back efforts once again. Either way, you’re jealous at what Undyne can afford. You shove another salmon roll in your face before you can say anything.

You look up, and realize Undyne is looking at you expectantly. Oh geez, you aren’t eating too much are you? You hadn’t realized how hungry you were until you’d had all the plates put in front of you and now you’re just embarrassing yourself! You swallow quickly. 

“Sorry, what did you say?” You ask as if you haven’t made an entire fool of yourself.

“I just asked what you were doing walking in an alley,” she replies. “Saw where you popped out from. You hiding from anybody?” You can’t tell if she’s joking or not.

“Pfft, what? No, I was exploring,” you explain. Who would you hide from anyway? Your grandma? Katie? “I walk everywhere - don’t have a car, and I like to take different paths and see where they put me when I don’t have anywhere to be. That alley was really pretty, actually. Somebody made graffiti with moss and put it over all the ugly words.”

You’re much more animated after telling her that. You aren’t sure what changed, but you begin adding much more input to the conversation. You tell her about the book you just read, and all the places in the city you’ve found with your little detours. And you tell her about the little Girl Scouts trying to sell you cookies, and their skeleton chaperone.

That interests Undyne. “You met Sans?!” She says, almost shouts.

You nod. “Yeah, but we didn’t talk much. He had to take Frisk and Monster Kid around the complex. But he did the sweetest thing, and gave me some thin mints even though I couldn’t afford them! I saw him talking to Frisk before they left, and now that I think about it that must’ve been what they were talking about. I don’t know much ASL but it’d be a really weird coincidence otherwise.”

Undyne grins all toothy again. “You’re sure that was all Frisk’s idea?” She asks. You raise an eyebrow at her.

“Uh, yeah,” you say. “Why else would he give cookies to a strange human he’s literally said five sentences to? Besides, that’s what he wrote on the note. ‘The kid said they wanted to pay for it’ or something like that.”

“Ooooooooorrr…”

“Ooooooooorrr nothing, dude. It was just something nice. Frisk mistook me just waking up for being sad, and they wanted to cheer me up.” 

You decide to leave out the part where you cried over the cookies, and you really had been sad and they’d made you so happy you didn’t care that Sans had somehow broken into your house to leave them for you. Best not make things weird. You shove three more pieces of sushi in your mouth. The caviar pops as you chew.

Your phone dings, and you debate with yourself between being rude or missing an important email. Better have her think you’re inconsiderate.

You almost drop the phone.

“Holy shit, yes! Oh my god, yes, finally!” You keep yourself from shouting somehow. You aren’t sure how you manage it, because there you are, staring at your newest email, saying the owner would like to see you for an interview, and you see the words please reply at earliest convenience which is right fucking now, “holy shit!”

“What, what, what?!” Undyne demands, trying to see your phone. You dodge her, snatch a roll with what you think might be eel and move to the other side of the table.

“This restaurant I applied at today - I’m unemployed - emailed me and asked when I can come in for an interview,” you explain excitedly. “This is insane, I’ve never gotten a reply this fast!” Maybe things were finally going to turn around. Maybe - don’t get ahead of yourself. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

“That’s AWESOME dude!” Undyne’s enthusiasm makes you smile. “What’s the place?”

“It’s called Grillby’s,” you tell her as you type. Thank you for considering my application. I’m available for an interview any time this week. No matter what time, you’ll have to leave an hour ahead if you’re gonna make it. You’d passed it on your way to your last job every day, and you’re sure it’s almost exactly in between there and your apartment. 

You aren’t sure why Undyne is so happy for you when you just met her. She doesn’t know you. You don’t know her. But you remember her declaration that the two of you would be best friends, and you think this is probably her trying to make that true. You don’t care why though - it’s so nice to have somebody rooting for you, congratulating you, telling you that you’ll do amazing at that interview. She doesn’t know your track record and that sours it a little for you, but you do your best to ignore that voice. There’s no reason you have to believe she’s wrong.

“Grillby’s such a nice guy,” Undyne says for the third time. “He’d probably be a good boss. Dunno why he’s looking for help though - I don’t think he’s ever had any employees. Maybe Fuku finally convinced him to hire some folks.”

You don’t know who Fuku is, but she sounds pretty.

“What kind of restaurant is Grillby’s,” you ask.

“Burgers and beer,” she tells you. “It’s mostly a monster joint. A few human regulars, but I think Grillby freaks most of them out.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Why would he be any stranger than any other Monster?” A thousand ideas run through your mind. Spiders. Three heads. Twelve feet tall. A plant monster. A hand - don’t laugh, you saw a hand-shaped monster sitting behind a secretary desk once and you were seriously weirded out. There couldn’t be just one of those. 

“He’s made of fire.”

You blink. You grin and laugh, and you feel Undyne giving you a weird look, but you don’t care as much as you usually would. “That’s it? There’s a new barista at my favorite cafe who’s a fire monster. I thought you were gonna say he had three heads or something!”

You take a long drink from your soda (well, less soda and more carbonated juice, but it’s good), and look up to see Undyne is still giving you a strange look. It’s a smile, but it’s subdued which you can already tell is unusual for her, and there’s this weird hint of confusion that you can’t figure out why it’s there. Her eye keeps moving up and down, subtly, but enough to notice. You look down - no soy sauce on your shirt - what is she looking at?

“What?” you ask. She shrugs.

“Nothing,” she says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are suuuuuper appreciated and will literally make my entire week. Love Y'all!!


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